Chapter 26

Gu Yanqiu pointed at the trending page on her phone. Lin Zhi took it with a confused look, skimmed it, and was stunned. People’s imaginations really were something else. With that kind of creativity, they could be doing something useful instead of mashing away at keyboards. They ought to stop making shows altogether and just debut the keyboard warriors in the center spot.

Gu Yanqiu asked him, “Last time you said Lin Yuewei was being blackened because the company was operating behind the scenes? And hiring black PR accounts and paid trolls and all that.”

Lin Zhi froze for a moment, then nodded as he searched his memory.

“My girlfriend said that.”

Gu Yanqiu asked, “Is there any way to deal with it?”

Lin Zhi didn’t know the first thing about this. It had all been fed to him piecemeal by his fangirl girlfriend, so he had to call in outside help. “...I need to ask my girlfriend.”

Gu Yanqiu made a soft sound of acknowledgment. “Go ahead.”

Lin Zhi didn’t forget to emphasize in advance, “Xiao Gu, let me say this first; don’t get your hopes up too much. My girlfriend follows idols, so she knows a little, but she may not necessarily know how to solve this.”

“I understand.”

“Alright then.” Lin Zhi finally answered and headed out.

But Gu Yanqiu called him back again.

Lin Zhi turned and stopped. “Xiao Gu, what is it? You’re not going to change your mind, are you? I told you, someone like you, fairy that you are, wouldn’t come down to earth and get involved in this messy entertainment-industry business.”

But the fairy had made up her mind.

Gu Yanqiu said, “Work first; this matter goes beyond work hours. I’ll count it as overtime.”

Lin Zhi hurriedly said, “No need, no need. I was just asking casually. I only had to move my mouth, and besides, I can use the chance to keep in touch with my girlfriend. Two birds with one stone.”

“Then fine; I’ll give you a raise next month.”

“Thank you, Xiao Gu.” A salary increase after only two months on the job; Lin Zhi couldn’t suppress his grin as he left.

Gu Yanqiu lowered her head and got back to work. The fountain pen whose nib had once been bent had been fitted with a new nib over the weekend; now it wrote smoothly on paper, with no noticeable difference in feel from before. Gu Yanqiu was someone who cherished old things, and that included pens. If a pen wasn’t beyond repair, she would fix it rather than throw it away.

When Lin Zhi got off work, he specially knocked on her office door and told her he had sent the message. His girlfriend said she didn’t really understand either and had gone to ask someone else, so Gu Yanqiu shouldn’t be anxious.

Gu Yanqiu had just set a document she was holding onto the stack she’d already finished reading. She said lightly, “Do I look anxious?”

Lin Zhi looked at her calm, unruffled expression and said, “...Nope.”

Gu Yanqiu waved a hand. “Get off work.”

“You should leave early too. I’m heading off first.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Lin Zhi left the office with his briefcase under his arm, and the huge office floor was left with only Gu Yanqiu. About ten minutes later, Gu Yanqiu put down her pen, interlaced her fingers, and rested them against her chin. She let out a faint sigh and glanced at her quiet phone beside her, a flash of anxiety crossing her eyes.

Why was there still no news? Just this one afternoon; how many more curses had Lin Yuewei had to swallow?

At nine thirty that night.

Gu Yanqiu got off work, locked her office door, and on the way out locked the floor’s main door as well. One of the elevators had stopped on the first floor and was rising all the way up; it would reach her floor very soon. Just then, Gu Yanqiu heard a strange sound.

It seemed to come from the stairwell. Looking at the elevator that was about to arrive, Gu Yanqiu thought about it and walked toward the stairs.

“Is someone there?” Her voice carried far through the empty corridor. The motion-sensor lights in the stairwell all came on at once, and a gray-blue figure flashed past the edge of her vision.

“Who’s there!” Even with just one glance, Gu Yanqiu could tell the person was flustered and didn’t look like anyone from the company.

“Stop!” Without a second thought, Gu Yanqiu chased after him. Today she was wearing flats, which made running convenient enough; with her long legs and nimble movements, she didn’t even descend the stairs step by step. Instead, she planted a hand on the rail, her body swinging down as she lightly bent at the waist and jumped half a flight at a time.

It was a short man in a gray-blue T-shirt. He bolted for his life. Seeing the person behind him moving with the lightning speed of a movie stunt, his clothes almost flying from the momentum, he was so terrified he had no time to think that the person chasing him was only a woman; he could think only of running.

Gu Yanqiu saw that he was about to reach the first floor. If he got out onto the first floor, it would be all right; there was a security guard in the lobby, and below the first floor was the underground parking garage. If he ran into the parking garage, catching him would be much more troublesome.

Without hesitation, Gu Yanqiu hurled the bag in her hand at the back of the man’s head. Hearing the wind, he lunged forward in a dive; the bag struck his back squarely instead. Inside were the documents Gu Yanqiu had taken home from the company, along with two electronic devices; it was a solid hit, and the man staggered before falling hard to the ground.

The man scrambled up immediately and tried to run again.

Gu Yanqiu came down from above, grabbed the back of his collar, and yanked him around to face her. “Who are you? Why are you sneaking around?”

The man said nothing. His expression darkened, and his hollow eyes fixed on her with a vicious glare.

Gu Yanqiu said, “If you don’t talk, don’t blame me for handing you over to security.”

The man yanked open his collar, revealing a dragon tattoo across his neck; cheap enough to be obviously temporary.

Gu Yanqiu: “...”

What era was this; was he still playing at being a triad tough guy?

Gu Yanqiu was growing impatient. “Speak.”

“If you don’t want to die, mind your own business!” the man snarled at her, his voice rough as if mixed with sand and knives.

Gu Yanqiu glanced at the bulging bag he had dropped behind him. She took off the treasured Buddhist beads from her wrist and tucked them into her pocket, then raised one eyebrow slightly. “A thief? You actually stole your way in here? Which floor was it from?”

The man swung a fist at her.

Gu Yanqiu tilted her head and dodged it lightly. Without another word, she reached out, seized his collar, and dragged him toward her. She drove her knee hard upward, striking dead center in his lower abdomen. The man let out a pained gasp. Gu Yanqiu gave him no chance to recover; with both hands she pinned one of his arms and hauled him violently toward herself. The man reacted even more slowly than she expected. She didn’t even need her follow-up move; she dipped one shoulder, rammed into him, and tossed him out of her hands.

It was a beautifully executed over-the-shoulder throw; if someone had filmed it, it could have been used as a practical training tutorial.

Clutching his stomach, the man’s vision went dark and his insides churned violently. “Fuck...”

Gu Yanqiu walked over. The man scrambled up and backed against the wall. Watching the flawlessly beautiful face of the woman before him draw nearer and nearer, he seemed to lose his nerve. Once the Buddhist beads had been removed, it was as though something that had been suppressing Gu Yanqiu had vanished. A certain ferocity leaked out from every pore; what showed in her brows and eyes was only an oppressive sharpness and gloom.

The man swallowed and, for a moment, actually felt like backing down.

“Are you going to talk or not?”

The man lunged at her. His arm was twisted behind his back, and when he raised his leg to kick, Gu Yanqiu saw through it in advance and delivered a hard blow to his calf. The man screamed. Gu Yanqiu held one arm pinned behind him while pressing a hand to his shoulder and slamming him against the wall.

The arm forced behind his back felt as if it were about to snap. In agony, the man shouted for mercy. “I’ll talk, I’ll talk! What I stole was—”

“Too late!” Gu Yanqiu cut him off with a face full of darkness, and followed with several more kicks, relentless and unforgiving.

“Help—help me—”

Perhaps the noise had grown too loud. A security guard on duty on the first floor hurried over.

The stairwell door opened.

The guard only saw a young, exquisitely dressed woman unhurriedly folding the bead bracelet on her wrist twice and putting it back on. She smiled at him with polite grace. “He’s a thief; please take him to the police station. The bag contains stolen goods.”

Gu Yanqiu was so strikingly beautiful that the guard remembered her; he knew she worked here, and seemed to be a manager too. “Alright. Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

The guard glanced to the side. The thief she was speaking of was now curled up on the ground, one hand clutching his stomach, the other his leg, shaking and retching.

Guard: “...”

Gu Yanqiu said, “See you tomorrow; thanks for your trouble.”

The guard stared blankly. “Goodbye.”

Gu Yanqiu gave him a slight nod and walked past. Her eyes were as calm as ever, detached from worldly concerns.

It wasn’t until she had gotten into the elevator heading down to the underground parking garage that the guard came to his senses and called out, “Wait.”

The elevator doors slowly closed in front of him.

The guard had no choice but to give up. He hauled the curled-up thief from the floor, along with the stolen goods. The man looked at him as if he were looking at a long-lost relative, crying so hard he could hardly let go; it was truly a strange sight.

Gu Yanqiu drove out of the parking lot and, on the road, received a call from Lin Zhi.

Gu Yanqiu put the call on speaker. Lin Zhi’s voice sounded inside the car. “Xiao Gu.”

“Speak.”

Lin Zhi paused when he heard how hoarse her voice was and asked with concern, “Are you uncomfortable?”

Gu Yanqiu tightened both hands on the steering wheel, drew in a soft breath, and returned to her usual tone. “No. I just came out of the underground garage.”

Lin Zhi gave an “oh” and said, “Then should I tell you now or wait until you get home?”

“Now.” Gu Yanqiu happened to need something to distract her.

So Lin Zhi began. “My girlfriend really doesn’t understand this. She asked a friend of hers who works in marketing, and that friend said Lin Yuewei’s blackening was either done by the production team or by one of the contestants inside the show.”

“Explain carefully.”

“Sure. If it’s the production team, it’s simple; they need heat for promotion. You can tell just by the editing. The good parts are cut out, and only the bad parts are left. If it’s a contestant, it’s because of competition. There aren’t direct competitive relationships on the boys’ side, so we can rule that out. There are fifty girls left, and only five can debut. Lin Yuewei is taking up one slot, so someone else gets one less chance. Now that her reputation is so bad, it only takes a little money to fan the flames. After the last episode aired, there’s been nonstop talk that Lin Yuewei’s ranking is dropping.”

“How do we help her recover her public image?”

“That’s the key question.” Lin Zhi sighed. “Her friend said the show has only reached episode seven; it’s just over halfway. Since the production team wants to keep this popularity, they won’t be favoring her in the editing.”

“...”

“Her friend also said...” Lin Zhi hesitated.

“What did she say?” Gu Yanqiu slowly eased off the accelerator and reduced the car to a normal speed. Her heart gradually calmed down too.

“She said that if there’s no turnaround later, then she’s probably been marked for sacrifice.”

“That means they’re going to eliminate her?”

“Mm.” After saying that, Lin Zhi hurriedly added, “But she still has a very good chance of debuting. Right now traffic is king; black and red is still red. There are so many people who buy countless hot searches and still can’t get to number one, but Lin Yuewei shoots to number one every time and stays there all day. The production team won’t let go of a fat piece of meat like that.”

“Hm.” Gu Yanqiu thought for a moment. “When you get a chance, send me a tutorial on voting.”

Lin Zhi: “...” This time the fairy really was coming down to earth.

Gu Yanqiu said, “Since other people can buy bots and hire black PR, can’t I hire positive PR too?”

That was Lin Zhi’s first time hearing the term “positive PR,” but given Gu Yanqiu’s context, he still understood. He didn’t correct her. “In principle, yes.”

“Then that’s fine.” Gu Yanqiu had quite a few assets under her name; they had all been arranged by her family when her mother was still alive. Though she didn’t know how much bots and positive PR would cost, it sounded like something she could afford.

Gu Yanqiu asked, “How exactly does all this work? Who do I talk to?”

“...I’ll ask my girlfriend again,” Lin Zhi suggested. “Or I could just give you my girlfriend’s WeChat directly?” That would save him the trouble of going back and forth as a middleman.

Gu Yanqiu refused very decisively. “No.”

Lin Zhi blurted out, “Why not?”

Gu Yanqiu said, “No reason. Also...”

Lin Zhi said, “Go on.”

Gu Yanqiu said, “Don’t tell anyone my identity.”

Lin Zhi was left utterly baffled as he went back to asking his girlfriend for advice.

When Gu Yanqiu got home, she glanced at her phone and saw that Lin Zhi had sent her a voting tutorial. As for how to hire bots and positive PR, that was still being asked about, and she was told to wait for a reply.

Gu Yanqiu downloaded the app, followed the tutorial to cast her vote, then took her sleepwear and went to shower.

With a dry towel wrapped around her head, she rubbed her wet long hair as she came out of the bathroom. She sat on the bed with one leg bent, picked up her phone from where it lay black-screened, and lit it up. There were new WeChat messages.

One was from Lin Zhi; the other...

Gu Yanqiu opened the other one first. The other person’s avatar was a ragdoll cat, and they asked: [How’s your mood today?]

Gu Yanqiu replied with two words: [Not good]

The phone buzzed violently, ringing at the same time. A video call invitation came in. Gu Yanqiu stared at the ragdoll cat avatar in the center of the screen, her gaze quiet and deep. After a long moment, she pressed accept.

“Meow...”

The screen was filled with a ragdoll cat exactly like the avatar. Pure white all over with soft fur, it had only a patch of black on one ear and a pair of sapphire-blue eyes that were very beautiful.

Gu Yanqiu’s lips curved up slightly before she could stop them.

“Only Schrödinger can make you smile like that.” A woman poked her head out from behind the cat’s face, lifting the ragdoll cat’s paw and greeting Gu Yanqiu on the screen in a thin, affected voice. “Hello, Dad; long time no see, meow~”

The woman looked about the same age as Gu Yanqiu, around twenty-five. Her features were sharp and her beauty vivid; she was smiling brightly.

Schrödinger gave her no face at all and crawled out from between her hands. The young woman scooped it back up at once and rubbed the top of its head. Schrödinger couldn’t break free and let out a tiny mew.

Gu Yanqiu examined Schrödinger—the name of the ragdoll cat—and said, “It looks like it’s lost a little weight.”

The woman said coquettishly, “Nonsense. I weigh it every day; it’s heavier than when you left. What kind of eyes do you have?”

Gu Yanqiu smiled. “Then you’ve taken very good care of it.”

“Anyway, better than you would have.” The woman gave a soft huff.

Gu Yanqiu kept smiling and didn’t answer. The smile on the woman’s face also faded little by little. Schrödinger wriggled free from under her hands and leaped lightly from the bed to the floor. The woman seemed not to notice at all, staring at Gu Yanqiu’s face through the video. “You... has that problem of yours gotten better?”

Gu Yanqiu said, “I’m fine.”

Concern appeared on the woman’s face. “You...”

Gu Yanqiu met her eyes directly. “Really, I’m fine. Much better than before. You know I...” She let the rest of the words trail off. “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. I have something important to do.”

“Yanqiu, listen to me—”

“Good night.” Gu Yanqiu reached out and ended the video call.

She opened the message Lin Zhi had sent and found a phone number. Lin Zhi said it was his girlfriend’s friend’s number. He’d spoken frankly; that friend, so-called marketing professional, was actually from a bot company, and one of the more reputable ones in the industry too—honest and trustworthy, suitable for all ages. The latter two sentences were the friend’s own advertisement.

Gu Yanqiu: “...”

Gu Yanqiu had considered asking the Lin family to step in, but in the end she gave up. The Lin family had connections in both politics and business; with just a word, a small production team wouldn’t dare risk offending the Lin family by maliciously hyping up Lin Yuewei. But first, she and Lin Yuewei were not actually that close; she had no standing to speak on this matter. Second, Gu Yanqiu thought of the way Lin Yuewei had looked when she’d met her by the roadside that night, along with a few other telltale signs, and felt that Lin Yuewei might not want her family involved. It wasn’t right for Gu Yanqiu to make the decision for her without asking.

Gu Yanqiu decided to do it herself, so she dialed the number. A girl answered.

Gu Yanqiu asked first, cautiously, “Do you know who I am?”

The bot company’s salesperson said, “I don’t. The friend who introduced you didn’t say. What do you need? How should I address you?”

“My surname is Lin.” Gu Yanqiu used the surname to the end.

The salesperson clearly froze for a moment. Then, as if she’d thought of something, she said, “M-Ms. Lin, may I ask what your requirements are?”

Gu Yanqiu explained her requirements. Because she didn’t understand the twists and turns of the industry, she spoke with absolute seriousness. It took a long time for the salesperson to figure out exactly what she wanted.

Gu Yanqiu added, “I don’t know how you do this, but your company should have higher-end packages, services of better quality and so on?”

“Yes, but the price will be relatively higher.”

“Money is no problem.”

“We charge by the post.” The salesperson gave her an approximate quote.

Gu Yanqiu was surprised after hearing it. “That little?”

Salesperson: “...” She felt she had just been looked down on by money itself.

Gu Yanqiu said, “What’s the most expensive option?”

The salesperson gave another price and said, “With this, we’ll prepare a full plan for you; it’s an all-in-one service.”

“Then let’s go with that. When can you start?”

“Because your needs are rather specific and special, I’ll transfer your call to our boss. He’ll speak with you personally.”

“Okay,” Gu Yanqiu said. “Please don’t leak what I just told you, including the friend who introduced me here.”

“I understand.”

For the boss, Gu Yanqiu’s case was a sizeable order. The two of them talked for a long time and roughly settled things.

After hanging up, Gu Yanqiu blow-dried her half-dry hair and got into bed. She stared hard at the ceiling above her, as if she wanted to carve every pattern on it into her mind so she would never forget.

She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

***

Lin Yuewei stared at the pile of big rabbits and little rabbits in the corner and felt speechless. Ever since the last time Shao Yasi, who never hung anything from her backpack, had attached a rabbit to it, her fans had gone wild and kept sending her rabbit plushies nonstop; the corner was now completely piled up.

Shao Yasi was very straightforward and picked out a few of the prettiest ones to give to Lin Yuewei. Lin Yuewei put the big ones on her bedside and hung the small ones on the wall, but her eyes kept drifting toward the backpack Shao Yasi had set aside.

For some reason, ever since she’d given the rabbit away, she’d constantly felt a little restless.

How should she put this? She was starting to regret it a little. But once you gave something away, wasn’t it bad to take it back?

Lin Yuewei was so worried she felt like tearing her hair out.

“Is your head itchy?” Shao Yasi looked at her and asked.

“A little.” Lin Yuewei naturally scratched twice more, then lowered her hand.

Shao Yasi said, “Wait a sec; I remember XXX has a really useful shampoo. I’ll go ask for some for you.” With that, Shao Yasi left the room.

Lin Yuewei stood up and, while occasionally glancing back at the open door, walked toward the direction where Shao Yasi had left her bag.

The dorm soundproofing was average, and the door was open, so she could hear Shao Yasi talking in the hallway and next door.

“My head’s been a little itchy lately. Do you still have that shampoo you mentioned last time?”

“I’ll look. There might be a new bottle in the box.”

“Okay.”

“I found it, but this bottle is kind of small. It might not be enough for very long. I’ll buy some more online later.”

“Just send me the link.”

“On your phone?”

“Sure.”

“As if we even have phones, hahaha.”

Lin Yuewei was just undoing the bunny’s string with both hands when a voice suddenly sounded behind her. “Old Lin, what are you doing?”

Lin Yuewei yanked her hands back fast. She recognized her other roommate’s voice. Turning around, she put on a flawless smile and pinched a strand of hair between her fingers. “I saw a hair; I was picking it up to throw it in the trash.”

Her roommate looked at the sea of gifts on the floor, leaving almost nowhere to step, and gave Lin Yuewei a thumbs-up for still being this particular at a time like this. “Our dorm room only looks like a real dorm because of you.”

“You’re welcome.” Lin Yuewei smiled, flashing a neat row of white teeth.

Her roommate dug a sheet mask out of her suitcase and went to the bathroom to put it on while looking in the mirror.

Lin Yuewei was about to continue when—

“I’m back! And with your itch-relief shampoo too.” Shao Yasi appeared at the doorway with a ding-ding-ding sound effect.

Lin Yuewei’s eyes were full of despair.

Seeing that her expression was ugly, Shao Yasi lowered the shampoo in her hand and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it; what’s there to thank?” Shao Yasi said. “I’ll put the shampoo in the bathroom. Green pump top, semi-transparent bottle; this is it. Use this one next time, and don’t grab the wrong one.”

“Okay.”

Shao Yasi went into the bathroom, where the roommate with the sheet mask happened to be as well. She joked with the roommate for a couple of lines and didn’t notice the figure darting back and forth inside the dorm room behind her.

When Shao Yasi returned, Lin Yuewei smiled at her.

Shao Yasi smiled back, though she did find that smile from Lin Yuewei a little baffling. She picked up the backpack she had set aside and took a notebook out of it. After fastening the bag shut, she looked at the empty back panel and somehow felt like something was missing.

Lin Yuewei was lying on her bed reading a book, but her peripheral vision kept tracking Shao Yasi’s movements.

After Shao Yasi had turned over the entire pile of rabbits and checked both the bed and the floor, she looked up and asked in feigned surprise, “What are you looking for?”

Shao Yasi said anxiously, “My rabbit’s gone.”

“What rabbit? Aren’t there plenty right there?”

“The one you gave me.”

When Lin Yuewei heard that, how could she possibly sit still? She hurried over to help search. The two of them turned the dorm upside down. In the end, they found the rabbit under the corner of Lin Yuewei’s blanket.

Shao Yasi reached for it, but Lin Yuewei got there first and grabbed it in her hand.

Shao Yasi blinked at her, confused.

Lin Yuewei hissed softly and put on a thoughtful look. “My mom told me some things have spirits. If this showed up on my bed now, could it mean something in some hidden way?”

Shao Yasi said, “Mean what?”

“Maybe it’s already chosen its owner,” Lin Yuewei said with perfect seriousness. Then she frowned at Shao Yasi. “It’s probably chosen me as its owner. If you keep it, it might cause some bad things.”

Shao Yasi: “...”

Lin Yuewei tucked the rabbit securely under her pillow, pulled over the blanket, and strode toward the rabbit pile in the corner. “I’ll keep this one here. I’ll pick another one for you later. The one someone else gave you was originally yours anyway; hanging it up should be fine.”

Shao Yasi: “..."

Author’s Note:

Shao the Cutie: My little bunbun, sob sob

Miss Lin: What do you mean your little bunbun? It’s my little bunbun; my wife gave it to me. Finally got it back. Otherwise it’d be hard to explain when I go home [phew]

Guess which one of the Lin and Gu duo is better at fighting ->_→